The Picture of Sybil Gray
by TLpb
Summary: Dorian has a daughter, Sybil, suffering from a mysterious disease : she ages faster than she should. She wakes up two hundred years later.
1. ONCE UPON A TIME

Once upon a time, somewhere in the end of the XIX century, an innocent and happy child was looking like a forty five years old grown up. Actually, she was fifteen and suffering from an unknown disease which was eating her from the inside. Doctors from all over the world came and tried to save her but none of them succeeded. His father, the notorious/famous Dorian Gray, tried a controversial technical progress to save her only child. A scientist with a way too complicated name invented something called "cryogenic storage". Also, he said he was coming from the future but whatever. This machine came from nowhere, no one heard about it, but here it was. With this, they said they were able to freeze someone for how many times they want, and when they'll wake up, nothing inside of them will have aged. Ordinary people accused him of wizardry but Dorian was the only one to know what the real wizardry was. Yet, his life isn't the mess that you know, he won't kill Basil until years. All maters to him are the pleasure of life, of course, and his dear Sybil. Well … Not the actress-Sybil, but Sybil her daughter named in tribute to her dead mother.

Dorian had to say his farewells one last time to her daughter. He knew she would die if she was staying on this world a few more years. Her body was aging way more faster than what he should, nobody knew why and how, but deeper inside of him he knew. That was because of him. He wasn't aging, the painting was … and his daughter too. The curse was double. He didn't want her to be as horrible as the painting was. Never. She had to be cryogenized and when they'll have a cure, they'll wake her up and save her. He wants to believe. Sybil will be the most beautiful and healthier little woman in the future.

He kissed her on her forehead one last time and let her get into this eternal and horrible bed.

Thus 2190. World changed, people died and borned, she's the last member of the Gray's family. A doctor, who asked her to call him with his name, Ulwarth, waked her up. As promised, nothing had changed into her, neither for the best nor the worst. She was still 40 outside and 15 (and a few hundred technically) inside. She used to know everything about her world, about basically everything around her … but now … Nothing is the same. She was walking on a white and sterilized area (she didn't even know what meant "sterilized"). Nothing had any taste there, people were all the same, wearing the same clothes, doing the same things. It hadn't any warm. Ulwarth was the only one excepted, he took her under his wing, explained everything about her new world and how to cure her. He gave her a "something" with a too complicated name, what were able to translate languages. Now she's technically able to understand and talk every single language on the database. She put this thing on her hear, and listened to him saying that she'll have to change her name. On this new world, every name needed to have a meaning and Sybil wasn't accepted. It was her mother's name, the only thing she ever had from her, but she had to accept. He decided to call her Oilossë. It means "the snow always white". It was quite pretty actually. From his mouth, everything seemed so easy. The world has now robots to do kind of everything, the only few people who work create robot, fixe robots, or think about technical developments. They created bridges between continents, frontiers no longer exist. The world is on a state of peace and has a single and fair governor. They can cure almost everything and eradicated from earth deadly diseases like malaria, measles, tuberculosis, typhus, influenza, cancer, AIDS, … And for what they cannot cure yet, they put the patient on a cryogenic state like they did for her centuries ago. After a little prick, they swear she won't age anymore and recover her lost ages, to look like a teenager again. The cured hundred more children/grown up whom were all frozen like her. It was like a dream. She was living again, on a perfect world. Almost too good to be true.

Maybe she was now a rich, beautiful, healthy, and young again, but she was still minor. In this new world, majority is after 25 years old, hence Ulwarth accepted to be his tutor. She had inherited from all her father's money and though a while that Ulwarth wanted to take if from her, but she discovered he was already rich. Nothing to worry about thus. It also meant his father died without any child, and certainly alone. She felt pity for him, he was eccentric but always good with her, he replaced the mother she never knew. He was a healthy man, he must have died old.


	2. BRAVE NEW WORLD

The days pass and Oil enjoy her new life and her new name. She doesn't know anything about the world, she goes everywhere every single day. She's learning, reading, listening, looking everything she can. Thanks to her father's money, she doesn't have to worry about finding a job yet. Ulwarth found her a simple but pretty apartment in the heart of the city and every day after his work he came to visit her. They talk as if they know each other since years, she explains to him what she learned, and he explains to her how much medicine progressed today. Sometimes Oil thinks their relationship his strange, but right after she forgets those evil thoughts about the man who saved her. She can't reproach anything to him. And for her sixteen's birthday, he offered her a peculiar object which every popular people had: a robot. But not a simple and boring robot or anything you could think about. It was a robot at her image. It was _her_. Amrod, who was the most talented artist of the city and a very close friend to Ulwarth, made it for her. It was a masterpiece. Made of flesh and bones, the resemblance is breathtaking.

Okay, well, let me tell you how he made it. I assure you it's important.

A few days before, Ulwarth pretexted the need of Oil for his artist's friend. He wanted to create a new project which for he had to have a perfect model, so he brought Gray's daughter. She knew she was pretty hence she came with joy. During hours she didn't move one iota, and the artist did strange things on a strange machine. The young woman only knew painting, like the beautiful one with his father on, she hadn't any idea what he was creating. However, she had the right to move her mouth, so the three of them were able to discuss. I'm saving you for boring hours of useless words, but a few of them are important.

" **And you Oilossë, what's your deepest dream ?** " wondered Amrod.

" **Uh, you know, I think my dream is to live.** " explained Oilossë.

" **It was before, but now you do live. You can do better !** "

" **Ok then … Stay young, forever. I won back my lost years and I don't want to see them flee away one more time. I have so much things to discover now.** "

" **Youth and beauty then ?** "

" **Yes.** "

" **I already heard that, you sure ?** "

" **Yes, I told you**."

Ulwarth wasn't talking, scribbling on his Bible (what a shame), but he raised his eyes to Oilossë.

" **Is it really your deepest dream ?** " asked Aegnor.

" **Yes, it is**."

A wind made drop an antic candlestick on Ulwarth's Book which instantly caught fire. He felt from his chair and a robot brought water to extinguish the fire. The Book was technically saved but now unusable, and the word written by the tutor definitely burnt and drowned. That's how ended the session with the skilled Amrod.

But as you know, I'm not a big fan of fairies tales. Something went wrong, deeply wrong. The cure wasn't efficient, all other patient started to age again, and faster than ever. Most of them were already dead and the others went back to hospital to help doctors to find something else. Why not put them back on a cryogenic state ? Because it only works once. If you put twice a human on this cryo stuff, he'll freeze, his veins will explode and he'll die the second after because of a hemorrhage. Who comes back from cryogenization can't get back. Either they were dead, either they went to hospital, but there is one exception. Guess who ? Our favorite Oilossë. Still young, still beautiful, still healthy. And yet, she had the exact same cure than the other.


	3. BLACK MIRROR

She and her robot were living a perfect life. She learnt how to procrastinate at bed, watched Netflix and caught up decades of TV show. She discovered the taste Candy floss on ice creams (and discovered ice creams too), and … well … tried the new trend-drugs, way better than ones from XIX's. She went to Moon once, and reserved the next trip to Neptune. She get used to her new robot, who (they are almost considered as humans) was doing everything instead of her : cooking, cleaning, going to boring stuffs, … She even decided to become an influencer, the most famous job on the XXI century : living a perfect life and showing it on social networks. And to be close to her audience, she also takes picture of her robot cleaning the house and does like if it was her. Clever girl. She won zillions of followers with her heartbreaking story and a perfect life, a perfect plastic and her famous friend (Ulwarth, Amrod, whom both of them were actually in love with her). When Ulwarth came to see her and told her to go to hospital for some test, once again she took a picture "medical test (sick smiley)" and get 80k+ likes and as private messages asking her if she was okay.

Actually, the only thing which was worrying her was her robot. She's new and yet broken. She seems to rust, she already broke two expansive glasses, squeaks, walks slower, speaks the wrong language (I'm not even counting how many times he said 你好). The weirdest is when some black oil seems to sink from her eyes, like if she was … crying ? Well for Oilossë, it only means she has to clean her eyes neither the photo won't be cool.

After all those tests, Ulwarth and Amrod decided to go to see her every single day. They had an argument to decide who was going first. Thus she gets closer with both of these gentlemen. Thanks to one photo per day with personalities like them, she got a 4.6/5 score, the highest of the city. Now she was the most famous influencer. As her father did before her, she now enjoys the pleasures of life. On the top of that, medicals tests hadn't shown any sign of disease, she was younger than ever !

Oilossë made one more step to Tartarus when she killed Ulwarth, years after, with the help of Amrod.


	4. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

Okay let me explain, maybe I'm dramatizing a little bit (but Ulwarth is definitely dead !). It was midnight, Amrod was leaving Oilossë's house meanwhile Ulwarth was getting in. If you see what I mean, they didn't play cards together, and Ulwarth saw that too. Jealous and outraged (but more jealous than outraged), he started once again an argument with his friend, but this one went wrong. He had drink, he wasn't controlling either his words or his gestures and started to hit Amrod. The last one only tried to protect himself on the first time, but the other was always more dangerous, taking his half empty bottle to hit him. And that's when it really went wrong. Amrod took the bottle and without thinking about what he was doing, hit Ulwarth on the head with. Meanwhile Oilossë (better late than never) put herself on the middle of the fight and when Amrod attacked Ulwarth, she did and incomprehensible gesture and while she was trying to help them, she pushed her tutor from the balcony after being stab on the chest. Oh yeah, I forgot to precise where it was happening, just a detail.

Like any reasonable person would do, they hurried to get down all the floors, took the lifeless body and went back on the house with. Then, Oilossë, after having caught up all Hannibal's season, cut him in pieces and _ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti_ … No come on I'm joking. They only cut him in pieces to destroy his body bones by bones on the crusher ! Why call the 911 or any equivalent stuff ? After this day, they never talked about it again. Ever.


	5. ORPHAN BLACK

Now, make a hiatus in your end and think about a break of ten-twelve years. That kind of event doesn't really make people closer, you know. Amrod and Oilossë never played cards together since this day, never talk either. But one day the artist wanted to take some news from her old friend and went into her apartment. The code was the same so when she wasn't answering, he solely get in. Nothing had changed except the fact that it was even wealthier than before. She could have move to a bigger place, but this apartment was the last memory from Ulwarth. Certainly the raison why she stayed in.

Suddenly, an " **hello ?** " came from the other side of the room and Oilossë arrived. At first he thought it was only her robot, but her face had changed and the time did his thing. She wasn't a teenager anymore, but a strong lady. Still, she was pretty.

" **Oilossë, I'm sorry to come without telling you in advance but I was walking in front of the building and … All the years came back into my mind, all our memories and I wanted to see you one more time** " he said, opening his arms to hug her.

" **Happy to see you too**." She answered, coldly.

" **I'm sorry , I though after the … you know …** "

" **What ?** " Still cold.

" **Don't force me to say it please, but Ulwarth ... W** **e both loved him at our way. And he's gone because of us. Nothing of that should have happened.** "

" **You are right. It is true.** " Frozen.

And now you should know what's going on. Obviously, when you kill someone you do remember. Why Oilossë wasn't remembering that ? Maybe because that wasn't her ? Now the robot knows their secret. Never ever trust a clever robot, every movie about robot could tell you that. Still, people never learn !

Thus happened what should happen, the robot started a riot. She didn't want to do humans stuff instead of them anymore. They need to do what they can do. She wanted to live her life, find friends robots and hang out with them, not cleaning the house 24/7 for a stranger whom strangely looked like her. Besides, robots have emotions too, they are not solely electricity and cables, what everyone seemed to think. One top of that, it wasn't fair : she was aging and not her humans. Robots are not supposed to age instead of humans ! After some quick searches on her database, she found the best way to kidnap someone without leaving any marks or clues.

One night, while she was on a deep sleep, she put on the human's face the chloroform she had bought a month before (don't arouse suspicions, you know). When she rested assured that she wasn't going to wake up, she took her body between her old mechanic arms and brought her into the cellar of her own apartment. Even if she lived in a building, she had her own cellar, where she never got a foothold. Statistically it was the safer place to hide a corpse : on his own house, where no one would think to look. Moreover, only a few people knew she had a cellar. And the best part of the plan is that no one will know she's missing, because the robot will BE Oilossë. Simply genius.


	6. SCANDAL

In the meantime, guiltiness was eating Amrod from the inside. He had killed his best friend ten years ago and everything came back into his mind when he talked with the witness/partner in crime. Human mechanism is so strange. He hadn't thought about this time during years, only a few words changed everything. Every nightmare came back, all those hours of paranoia. In the middle of the night, he finally decided to make some searches about a thing disrupting him since decades. What the hell was Ulwarth doing with a Bible which had come out of nowhere ? And where his artistic skulls came from ? Amrod was certain about one thing. He saw Ulwarth wrote inside. Not only drawings, but words. Like real words.

And at this moment, on every action movie where a clever handsome boy is looking for a lost/mythological object, he finds the truth, usually an incompressible enigma. This time, it wasn't something incompressible wrote in ancient Greek but a Wikipedia page : satanic art. Wonderful. According to it, his dear friend called evil entities. But nowadays who still believe on those things ?

From then on, everything went bad, but really faster. No more ten-year hiatus. Don't miss any word or you could be lost.


	7. GRAY'S ANATOMY

Clever robot (we could call her Oilossë actually, it would be easier) went knock at Amrod's house. Oh no she didn't want to confess her sins or whatever, but carry out her plan. Remember, same face as Oilossë. Same size, weight, way to speak. Almost the same person. Amrod saw only fire. Oilossë had planned everything : the robot went crazy, she tried to hurt her, had to escape, locked her on the cellar, went to see her only true friend, wants help now. He couldn't refuse. Together, they developed a solid plan of action, and a quite easy one : turn off the machine. Easy as pie, right ?

The plan worked smoothly, with one exception. As they didn't find the on/off bottom they stabbed her in the heart to be certain she won't be fixed. Weirdly, she never stops yelling she was Oilossë and not a simple robot, and she wasn't crazy or whatever, blablabla. When they destroyed her artificial heart, blood spurted out all over the place, like a slaughter. Both of them thought robots are really realistic nowadays. Ô beautiful science progress.

If science progressed during those two hundred years, mysticism too. The Picture had Dorian's fatal injuries instead of him, but not the Robot now (only a few scars for common things). She settled for aging. She is way more beautiful than Dorian's Picture, not roasting or anything else. Worms weren't escaping from her body. She was sixteen (decades ago), she's now a completely usual quarantine. Even if the "root" is gone, she keeps aging, she's autonomous.

As perfect as she was, she did a mistake : she raised her sweater. Worst mistake ever ! (the dumbest also) It was an usual gesture to show how hot the weather was and try to get fresh. But Amrod saw. Above her belly button. The Mark. Like if she had been stabbed in the chest, like Ulwarth. A common human could think about how funny this coincidence was but Amrod went on Wikipedia (remember !). On mysticisms' page, he rode a strange novella about a crazy man traveling the world because he wanted to age. Interested, Amrod rode the entire thing. This man had a Portrait aging and roasting instead of him. One day, when he cut his hand, the second after he had no scar : the Portrait had. And he picked up everything : the strange reaction of "Oilossë" when he talked about the murder, the strange reaction of the "Robot" when they turned her off, … And why Oilossë hadn't started to age again with the other patients : her Robot was doing it instead of her, the others hadn't this chance.

This is now. The final epic battle with amazing action music. Pick one your your phone if you want, we'll wait for you.

You are good ? Right. Let's begin.

Amrod finally understood the whole story. Oilossë is the Robot, Robot is Oilossë. Well, you know. It took a few ten years but here it is. On a panic movement, he backed off and felt. His breath went faster, he was feeling his heart beating into his chest. He was so stupid, so naïf. He tried to pick up his mind and though about what to do now. He had to kill this Thing. It wasn't "her" anymore but "it". IT has killed her beloved Oilossë, IT has killed his beloved Aegnor the cruel fire. It has destroyed his whole life, making him a murderer.

He ran to the kitchen and took the first thing he was. Because it was a little spoon, he choose something else : a pan. Unusual but damn effective. The Robot wasn't stupid, she knew she had to defend her life now. It was the final battle, a battle to death. She knew Amrod knew, and he couldn't forgive anything. Stupid humans !

Both of them ran towards each other's, arms in hand, yelling. Amrod tried a dodge to surprise the robot and stabbed him on the back. She felt on the ground but she wasn't defeated so far. Hardly, she stood up again and threw the knife in direction of his stomach (it was like a darts game). At the same time, he ran to her, pan in one hand, knife on the other. He throw the pan in direction of her head and kept the knife close to him, the blade pointing her. And when her knife touched him, his knife touched her. This time, none of them stood again. They tried to stammer things but I never understood.

Morality ? Always throw your knife first.

In the end, Ulwarth the curse was certainly the root of everything, and he was killed by Amrod the sun and Oilossë the snow always white. And Oilossë will be forever the white snow, as white as her dead face. Same with her Robot, killed by the Sun. Sun and Snow killed each other. Now you certainly understand how much the meaning of the names is important.


End file.
